forever waiting
by eisa
Summary: as the war takes certain twists a new evil is far more alarming and closer to the Weasely’s then they ever dreamed. Ron has lost both Hermione and Harry to the war. Yet the war goes on. Hermione POV. HrmR, some GH


Forever Waiting Summary: as the war takes certain twists a new evil is far more alarming and closer to the Weasely's then they ever dreamed. Ron has lost both Hermione and Harry to the war. Yet the war goes on. Hermione POV. Hrm/R, some G/H some G/Dr  
  
We lost him when he was still so young, he would have been eighteen the next July. He would have been the youngest captain for Chudley cannons, everyone was so proud. But then again in the back of every ones mind was the sheer disbelief that he would live to become a man. He didn't. It is hard to talk about it even now when four years have past and the horror we have lived through has again become a memory in the mind of the wizarding world. Poor Ginny still can't speak his name, she had waited so long to be with him and then he was robbed from her so violently. I remember how she had looked holding his body in her arms, she wouldn't let me or Ron near, we brought the truth that he was gone, the boy that lived - lived no more. He fought bravely. The last thing we suspect was that Percy would hinder us, that Percy was in league with He-who-should-not-be-named. Ron had had to kill Percy. He has never gotten over that either. I can't imagine how it felt having to kill your older brother who had killed your best friend. Percy had killed Harry. No one saw that coming, we all thought that if Harry was to die it would be by Voldemorts wand not Percy Weasley's. No everyone had been wrong; everyone had put the pressure of saving the world on the wrong shoulders. Neville has been the hero. We had been so surprised, but we had known in those days in the DA that he had potential, he was strong he just lacked confidence and a good wand. It seems that once he had gotten a wand made for him in sixth year he became a much more qualified wizard, he surprised us all. Dumbledore began to pay him attention, at first all Neville would do was stutter but by the middle of seventh year he was so much more, he was a splendid wizard, though he still couldn't mix a potion to even change a carrot pink.  
  
Ron and I were head boy and girl. We were in love, I suppose we always were but then we didn't utter a word, to afraid, not of rejection, no never that. We were afraid of the war. I knew I could not survive if I had lost him like Ginny had lost Harry. Ron also proved in the war to be more then the sidekick. He was a hero for the army, saving Hogwarts and the Muggle city of Dublin. Ireland too played her part, how could we have not foreseen that, Ireland was the kingship of all the high wizards, it was where the powers we held came from, no one had told us that until we had fled there after a battle which left many of our forces dead. It was there on a lone beach, with a grey sky melding with a grey sea I confessed my love to Ronald Weasley. I wish he could have heard, for it was there I died. I had been wounded and Ron had helped me apperate, it was his first time and we landed on a beach somewhere in the West of Ireland I remember how he buried his face in my hair and whispered that he loved me, that he always loved me. Then I vanished. No body was left for him to cradle like Ginny had held Harry, I just vanished. I don't think even I understood what happened, maybe I went straight to heaven, but I doubted I went body and soul, I was not that pure. The last words I heard was a vow from Ron. "I will find you!" I felt him searching for seven long years, he went to every corner, ignoring the war just seeking me out. He did help when he was needed, but he knew that since Neville had vanquished the Dark Lord that the world was more or less safe bar the odd Death Eater who tried to become the next Dark Lord, none stood that long when faced with Neville. It is still amazing to believe the boy that was almost thought a squib in first year was destined to be greater then any wizard that ever lived. Neville is now a teacher in Hogwarts, snape is not so pleased but I do think the old potions master has a soft spot for the boy as he does help him out whenever Neville needs anything. Ron searched until he found what he needed to really find me, he found the spell Cho had used on me. Cho had been another surprise, she had been in my command, I had trusted her, we all trusted her. But she was just like Percy rotten to the core with ambition and greed. It only cost the Dark Lord 30 gold pieces to have me dealt with. She was the Judas but her orders had been to get Neville, but lust came to play in the equation as well and she wanted Ron for herself. He had grown so much, I still remember his hands more then anything, they were rough due to Quidditch and yet when he touched me in those few too fleeting moments they felt like the softest silk. He had a little freckle on his thumb and one on his ring finger. How I wanted to slide gold over that freckle but it was never going to happen. When Cho hit me I knew that it was my turn to be mourned, I could feel not only my life slipping away but Ron's too, his dreams, the children he should have had as I slipped away so did they. I hated Cho for that. Not for what she did to me but what she did to Ron. I remember seeing him sprint across the battle field, he was covered in blood, not all of it his, he caught me before I hit the ground. My insides knotted in a warm wet feeling as he apperated us away to safety. He held me on that beach fighting for me to keep my eyes open. I really did try to. I wanted to look up into his eyes and kiss the lips I should have kissed in sixth year but the time I thought we had was never there to be had. I remember there was a storm, the winds were high and lightening was striking the earth from the heavens, I knew this was our army fighting, we had taken our battle to the heavens because we had no where left to go, everything was gone. So we fought in the sky throwing so many spells that I only hope our grandchildren forgive us for inventing at each other until no one could stand. The sand beneath us was wet and cold. I lay there in his arms, the warm wet feeling growing by the moment, I could feel the change. He leant down to kiss me, a kiss we had waited eleven years to share, it was soft and fulfilling, I felt a tear fall on my closed lids, he was crying, I wanted to tell him I loved him, tell him I needed him to be strong, tell him I was always with him but I was gone, turned to light blue wisps of smoke even before we finished our only kiss. I have never left him, not in all these years, he has grown so much harder and colder. If it hadn't been for Fred and George he would never have even smiled since he lost me.  
  
Ginny had a baby there a year ago, no one knew who the father was Ginny would not say. But she got a letter from Frinze saying the child was the one, when the baby was still nestled safely in her mother's womb. He never explained that, nor did he get the chance, the centaur was killed by an arrow shot from the Forbidden Forest before he could tell anyone what he had learnt from the stars. The baby was indeed amazing, a tiny little girl called Eiru, with powder blue skin, she had long blonde hair like an angel, it nearly killed the Weasleys to find it was a Malfoy. But Draco proved to be more like his cousin Sirius Black then his father, he saved Ginny the day Harry died and had lost an arm doing so, he had fought and killed his father, and Wormtail. Lupin has since praised him and let him into the Order of the Phoenix, Draco took over the noble house of black, once inside the door his name magically blasted of the family tree, he saw this as a good sign, Ron however took more convincing then any of the Weasleys, but once he saw how happy Ginny was and how Draco protected her he had to give them his blessing, though I knew his jaw was clenched so tight. I thought he would break it.  
  
Ten years have passed since I vanished, Ron still search's as the world around him begins to beat to a normal drum, Voldemort now a tale told to frighten children. the spell Cho used had been a one of ordered by the dark Lord to kill Neville, it had not been made for me, or for the place I 'died'. It was a 'Dedanna' an ancient spell from the early days when muggles and wizards shared the world in equal openness. It was one of the most feared curses Cho used on me that would kill unless they lay on mother earth. Voldemort thought that just meant that your feet were on the ground so when the battle started in the heavens he ordered it. Instead the mother earth was Ireland were we were all borne from. So when Ron took me to that lonely beach he saved my life, but made me one of the ancients, watching over those below me. When he found this he was I think happy, he knew I was alive and with him. I was waiting for him in heaven. And I am.  
  
Fifty years and Voldemort is almost a myth, Harry Potter is a myth, the poor boy who they lay all their hopes on. The poor boy who from the day of his birth was burdened with the weight of the world when it wasn't even his responsibility. He should have been left alone, but had he Neville would never have conquered the Dark Lord. Harry shall never be forgotten, no even now children hear his story, how he fought the Basalisk, how he fought the Dementors he was a brave young man who died fighting the good fight. Ron and I are myths now two, the Romeo and Juliet that the young wizard girls weep about, they curse the ending where Ron looses me on the beach, they want happy endings with roses and babies, I wanted happy ending too.  
  
Ginny and Draco died too, not fighting each other like they liked to joke, yes they proved that they were just like Ron and I, I watched them with joy, when they did fight they had love always in their eyes. No they died fighting Eiru when she was sixteen, she killed so many that she made Voldemort looked like a lounge act next to her, her angelic appearance was such a decoy, she was cold hearted and brutal, loving to watch her victims pain, she made Draco kill Ginny using a puppet spell, she made Draco rape then slowly strangle his beloved, I watched as he wept begging for forgiveness as she died, and Ginny whispering back to him 'I forgive you' . Eiru then turned to her father and offered to allow him to follow her, to become a Knight of Eiru he refused and tried to kill her, but he failed, she simply levitated him and slowly wrenched each remaining limb from its socket keeping him alive as long as she could laughing as he cried in pain. Their own daughter was the one alright, the one to again attempt to bring the world to its knees, had it not been for Ron she would have. He used the curse Cho had used on me but as Eiru was in Sussex she fell dead. Ron never used magic again. He had killed his beloved niece, no matter how evil she was she was still his flesh and blood, he had killed two of his family now, I think Percy dwelled in his mind a guilt he always carried, if onlys swam in his mind, 'if only he had been more understanding, if only he had listened instead of teased his brother'. Then killing Eiru was the last straw, he had nothing left in the magical world, his parents were dead, so were the twins, Bill and Charlie, they were all gone. So he left that world he was born into for the world I was born into. He went to live in London and began to run a muggle rare book shop, he surrounded himself with books on the ancients to try learn more about what I became. Dumbledore comes to see him now and then, telling him cryptic clues. I still can't believe Dumbledore looks the same as he did when we first started Hogwarts, the wizard is now over two hundred years old and fate has allotted him another hundred to make sure there is a fit guardian for the forces of good. Neville shall be that guardian.  
  
He was ninety six when he finally came to me, he had died alone, and in his sleep, his housekeeper found him the next morning and the Wizard world held the largest funeral since Harry's when they buried the last hero. The ancients let him come to me. We are together now at last after all these years. I can tell him everything I wish to. And now I can finally show him how much I have loved him. I walk to meet him at the gates. He runs to me when he sees me. He looks eighteen again, I look eighteen again. He takes me in his arms and holds me so tight. "I've missed you so much 'Mione." He cries, large tears flow down his cheeks, they flow down mine to. "I know, but I never left you really. I was right beside you watching your back." I say as he kisses my neck, then he kisses me the way I dreamt of him kissing me these past decades. We are together at last. But we are not alone, I only notice that now. I have left the chamber where I have remained watching him since I was taken. I am on a long avenue. I hear cheering behind us and we turn. Standing in the door way of Hogwarts stand those we loved and lost in the war and the battle with Eiru. Harry rushes to us first and hugs us. Then we spot Ginny and Draco holding hands, Bill and Fleur smiling, Hagrid weeping into a large hankie, Sirius waiting as always his smile thin but his eyes shone with happiness at seeing us again and Mr and Mrs Weasly who are standing beside Fred and George who wink and salute the same way Peeves saluted them when they rode of into the sunset. I laugh they haven't changed even here nor do I wish they will. "We've been waiting so long." Harry says as I link arms with Ron. I shall never let him go. Professor MacGonagal smiles and ushers us all into the main hall for a feast. At long last we shall live the lives we were due to have with out pain and death. We are allowed to be happy and in love. I can see that the hall is filled with all our old school friends who were lost also in the wars and one familiar face is now holding Harry's hand, I have to laugh, Luna Lovegood. She looks well though not dressed in crazy robes but a nice flattering pale blue which was tided in the middle with a silver rope belt which trailed on the ground behind her, she had battled Eiru too and failed but had given Ron the chance to get his shot in. I smile, I always thought she had a thing for Ron and for once I was glad I was wrong. I turn to him now, he hasn't taken his eyes of me. "I am dreaming amn't I?" he asks softly. I pinch him hard and he yelps in pain. "No you're not dreaming." I smile as he rubs the spot where I pinched him. "Pinch me again." He asks softly, his breath tickling my earlobe, still finding it hard to believe that we are together. I smile and do something better, I kiss him. I let the kiss flow for what feels like the lifetime we should have had together. He gasps in pleasure and moans for loss of contact when I leave his lips. No this is no dream. He takes my hand and squeezes it slightly. His eyes are electric blue and shinning with tears. "I always knew I would see you again. I never gave up that hope." I smile at him and let him know that I was with him always, he never lost me. After the feast we dance to ethereal music which my fellow ancients have provided, they had always told me I should leave him alone, that I should let him live his life without my supervision, but when they saw my tears when I looked away they relented and let me spend my heavenly existence watching the only man I loved search for me, while he lost more and more of those he loved to the wars and age. They owed us this happiness and now they gave us music. We danced for a decade holding each other tight loving the fact we were together, I had missed contact, I had missed his contact, I had almost forgotten he smelt like milk chocolate and Hugo Boss which I bought him for his birthday the year before I 'died', in his arms I felt like I was at home again. Everyone gathered round Ron when the music stopped and hoisted him on their shoulders, he was our hero, he had saved the world more times then any wizard and he had lost more then any man should ever, yet he had always hope, hope to find me again, hope to see us all again. 


End file.
